Bypass system for filling machines



April 1957 P. R. FECHHEIMER 2, 8

BYPASS SYSTEM FOR FILLING MACHINES 2 Sheeis-Sheet 1 Filed May 23, 1955fit: Teak/1c. Inwems April 1957 P. R. FECHHEIMER 2,789,589

BYPASS SYSTEM FOR FILLING MACHINES Filed May 23, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Iz 2' lira-5. 0 z

y I INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Unite BYPASS SYSTEM FOR FILLING MACHINES Application May as, 1955,Serial No. 51 9,449

i7 Ciaims. or. 141-141 My invention has to do with filling machines andrelates particularly to rotary filling machines in which a plurality offilling spouts are mounted on a rotary head element for deliveringmeasured increments of filling material from the filling head tocontainerspositioned below-the filling spouts.

It has hitherto been proposed to provide a filling machine having afilling head comprising a rotary head element and a fixed head elementin face-to-face contact, with the rotary head element carrying thefilling spouts to which the containers to be filled are juxtaposed, thecontainers being carried on platforms rotating with the filling spouts,the platforms in turn being arranged to be raised and lowered so as tolift the containers into conact with the filling spouts for filling andremove them therefrom when they have been filled. Filling material issupplied to the filling spouts through passageways extending through therotary head element, the passageways terminating at their inner ends ininlet ports in the face of the head element which are adapted to beserially brought into communication with an outlet port in the fixedhead element to which the filling material is supplied under pressurefrom a source of supply. By means of this arrangement, the seriatimconnection of the inlet ports to the outlet port provides a metered flowof filling material to each filling spout.

It has also been suggested in conjunction with rotary filling machinesof the type described to provide valve means in each filling spouteffective, when no container is presented therebeneath, to prevent thedischarge of filling material through the spout. Such means have, forexample, taken the form of normally closed valves in the filling spoutswhich are opened by the containers themselves as they are juxtaposed tothe filling spout by the lifting platforms. While such valve means areeffective to prevent the flow of filling material through the spoutswhen containers are not present therebeneath, the closed spout causesthe build-up of pressure in the filling head due to the fact that thepump supplying the filling material to the head continues to operate.This condition is undesirable in that it causes the pump to work againsta closed system and the increased pressure under which the fillingmaterial is placed creates difficulties in the filling of subsequentcontainers.

It is a principal object of the instant invention to provide a bypasssystem when, when no container is in position beneath the filling spout,will cause the filling material to be diverted through a bypass valveand returned to the filling head through a'secondary port, from whencethe filling material is passed to a storage receptacle or returned tothe source of supply.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a filling spoutincorporating a valve means which is normally in the bypass position andvalve tripping means for moving the valve to a container fill positionduring thetime the inlet port for the filling spout is passing bema th oetpr lling pe atent C A further object of my invention is the provisionof sensing means, such as a limit switch or photoelectric cell means,effective to detect the absence of a container beneath the fillingspout, whereupon means are actuated to prevent movement of the valvemeans from the bypass to the filling position, thereby causing thefilling material to pass through the bypass portion of the valve forreturn to the source of supply.

Yet a further object of my invention is the provision of valve trippingmeans normally lying in the position to trip the valve mechanism, therebeing means provided to remove the valve tripping mechanism from thepath of the valve actuating means in instances where no container ispresent beneath the filling spout.

These and other objects of my invention which will appear hereinafter orwhich will be apparent to the skilled worker in the art upon readingthese specifications, 1 accomplish by that construction and arrangementof parts of which I shall now describe an exemplary embodiment.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view with parts broken away illustratingan exemplary machine in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3-3 ofFigure 1. t

Figure 4 is a plan view of the filling machine.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged partial elevational view looking at the leftside of the device illustrated in Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 77 of Figure5.

Figure 8 is a sectional view similar to Figure 7 illustrating the partsin their alternate position of use.

Referring now to Figure l of the drawings, 1 have therein illustrated anexemplary filling machine compris-' ing a base 1 on which is mounted avertically disposed rotatable shaft 2 on which is mounted a filling headcomprising a fixed head element 3 and a rotary head element 4. The fixedhead element 3 is held against movement by means of an arm 5 fixedlysecured to a supporting mem- 7 her 6 extending upwardly from the machinebase. The

my invention.

rotary head element 4, on the other hand, is keyed to the shaft 2 formovement therewith and mounts a plurality of filling spouts 7 arrangedabout its periphery.

The base also mounts a table 8 which supports a rotatable platform 9carrying a plurality of lifts 10 positioned beneath the filling spouts7, the lifts being adapted to receive containers 11 and juxtapose themto the filling spouts as the platform 9 is rotated, the platform beingkeyed to the shaft 2. The lifts may be conveniently raised and loweredby means of a cam track 12 along which the legs 13 of the lifts areadapted to travel. A star wheel 14 fixed to the shaft 2 may also beprovided to assist in positioning the containers 11. It will beunderstood that the container lifting means is exemplary only-and doesnot constitute a limitation on be employed, and reference is made to myown Patent No. 2,660,357 entitled Pressure and Vacuum Filling Machine,dated November 24, 1953, wherein a specific form of platform lifts isset forth in detail.

The shaft 2 may be conveniently driven by means of bevel gears 15 and 16the latter of which is secured to a shaft 17 driven through sprocket 1Sand chain 19- by a prime mover (not shown). The containers 11 will bepositioned on the lifts 10 at substantially the point- Variousalternative platform lifts may;

'2 a A, as seen in Figure 2, and removed from the lifts at substantiallythe point B, it being understoodthat suitable conveying means will beprovided to present the QOIltElLCIS to the lifts and to remove themtherefrom. As the lifts move between the points: A and B. it will beunderstood that they will be raised and lowered by the cam track 12 soas to present the containers to the filling spouts for filling and lowerthem away after they have'been filled to the desired level. v V 7Referring now to Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings, each of the fillingspouts 7 is connected to a passa eway 20 extending through the rotaryhead 4, the passageways terminating in inlet ports 21 arranged to. bepresented sequentially to an elongated outlet o r filling port 22 in thestationary head 3. Filling material is supplied to the filling portthrough a conduit 23 leading to a source of supply 24 from which thefilling material is pumped through the conduit by means of a pump 25(Figure 6). Each of the filling spouts 7 is provided with a valve plug26 having a main passageway 27 extending therethrough and a branchpassageway 28 opening into the main passageway Extending outwardly fromthe valve plug is a shaft 29 carrying an operating cam 30 on its outerend, the arrangement of parts being such that the movement of the valveplug will be controlled by movement of the operating cam. The valve plugis moveable from a first position, illustrated in Figure 7, wherein thepassageway 20 in the rotary head is connected through the branchpassageway 28 and the passageway 27 to a bypass passageway 31 projectinglaterally from the fillfng spout, to a second position, illustrated inFigure 8, wherein the passageway 20 is connected through the passageway28 to a filling passageway 32 opening downwardly through the nozzle ofthe filling spout.

The plug valve 26 normally lies in the bypass position (Figure 7) and isadapted to be tripped to the filling position by means of a stop 33(Figure 6) arranged to trip the operating cam 30 and move the valve plugto the filling position just as the inlet port for the filling spoutcomes into registry with the elongated filling port in the fixed head,thereby moving the valve plug to filling position in synchronism withthe metered flow of filling material to the filling spout. A secondstop, 34 is 150- sitioned to be contacted by the operatingcam 30 at theconclusion of the passage of the filling spout beneath the elongatedfilling port, the second stop acting to return the valve plug to thebypass position. The stop 34 may be conveniently mounted on a bracket 35suspended from the fixed head element 3.

In accordance with my invention the stop 33, which serves to trip thevalve plug to the filling position, is arranged to be withdrawn from thepath of the advancing operating cam in the event no container is inposition beneath the filling spout. To this end the stop 33 is mountedon a rod 36 journaled for axial movement in a sleeve 37 which may beconveniently secured to the fixed head element. The rod 36 and stopcarried thereby are normally biased to the cam contacting position bymeans of a spring 38,, the biasing movement of the spring being limitedby a collar 39 secured to the rod and adapted to contact the uppersurface of the sleeve in the manner illustrated in Figure 6. The stop isretracted by means of a solenoid 40 connected to the upper end of therod 36, the solenQ d acting when energized 2 move he r d a t e. s pwa lyagainst t pression of the spring 38. When d'eenergized, the solenoidwill release the rod for return movement under the influence of thespring.

The solenoid 40 is adaptedto be energized by sensing means which willdetect the absence of a container beneath the filling spout as thefilling spout moves toward the filling station. In the embodimentillustrated in Figt res 1 and 2, the sensing means comprises aphotoelectric cell. 41 adapted to be energized bya light source 42arranged to'direct a beam of light 43 at the photoelectric cell insynchronism with the normal movement of a container into the path of thebeam of light. Thus, as seen in Figure 2, the light source 42 is adaptedto be energized when a container reaches the position illustrated indotted lines at 11a, the light source remaining energized until thecontainer has traveled to substantially the position 11b, at which timethe light source will be deenergized. With this arrangement thecontainer will effectively prevent the beam of light from energizing thephoto-electric cell and the electronic apparatus, indicated generally at44, will remain dormant and the solenoid 40 will not be energized.Consequently, the stop 33 will remain in the path of travel of theoperating cam 30. If, however, no container is present beneath thefilling spout, there will be nothing to interrupt the beam of light andit will energize the photoelectric cell 41 which acts through theelectronic apparatus 44 to energize the solenoid and raise the stop 33.This prevents the operating cam from being tripped and the valve plugremains in the bypass position so that the filling material metered tothe filling spout through the filling port will flow through the bypasspassageway rather than through the filling passageway.

The light source 42 may be conveniently energized in synchronism withthe movement of the' containers by means of a commutator mounted on thedrive shaft 17 and moving in timed relation therewith, the conductivesegment 46 being arranged to connect the contacts 47 and 48 of the lightsource circuit in synchronism with the movement of the containersthrough the path of the beam of light.

Each of the bypass passageways 31 is connected by a tube 47 to asecondary passageway opening upwardly in a secondary port 49 adapted tocommunicate with an elongated bypass port 50 in the fixed head element,the secondary ports 49 and the bypass port 50 lying on a differentradius than the inlet ports 21 and filling port 22, The filling materialpumped through the bypass passageways in the filling spouts will thus bereturned to the filling head and from the head may be passed through aconduit 51 to a storage tank or returned to the source of supply 24 inthe manner diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 6. It will be apparentthat any time a container is missing beneath any of the filling spouts,the filling material will be diverted through the bypass passageway inthe spout and returned to the filling'head for storage or reuse. In thisway the pump supplying filling material to the filling head will at notime be pumping against a closed system and the metering of the fillingmaterial by the filling head will be carried out at a constant pressureirrespective of whether or not the filling spouts are opened forfilling.

It is also within the spirit of my invention to provide automaticallyacting means efiective to energize the solenoid and prevent theopeningof the filling spouts during such times as the machine is beingstarted up or slowed down preparatory to being stopped To this end 1provide a normally open centrifugal switch 52 adapted to be driven fromthe drive shaft 17 by means of gears 53 and 54 the latter of which isoperatively connected to the centrifugal switch. A circuit connects thecentrifugal switch to the solenoid 40, the arrangement being such thatthe switch will energize the solenoid only when it is closed; and thiswill occur only when the machine drive is operating at other than normalspeed, as during starting and stopping.

Modifications maybe made in my invention without departing from thespirit of it and I do not intend to be limited other than as set forthin the claims forming a part hereof. For example, while in theembodiment illustrated the sensing means for detecting the absence ofcontainers beneath the filling spouts is in the form of a photo-electriccell, other sensing means may be employed. Limit'switches could beassociated either with the lifts 10 or with the nozzles of the fillingspouts which would detect the presence or absence of a container andthereby control the operation of the electronic apparatus 44 and thesolenoid 40. Similarly, while the solenoid is energized to retract thestop 33, the action could be reversed and the solenoid utilized, whenenergized, to maintain the stop in cam contacting position, the solenoidbeing deenergized only at such times as no container is present beneaththe spout. j

Having described my invention in an exemplary embodiment, what Idesireto secure and protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a filling machine for containers, a filling spout movable in apath of travel, said filling spout having a filling passageway and abypass passageway, means for supplying filling material to said fillingspout during the travel of said filling spout through a predeterminedzone in its path of travel, a valve in said filling spout movable from abypass position to a filling position, means for moving said valve tothe filling position as said spout enters said predetermined zone andmeans for returning said valve to the bypass position as said spoutleaves said predetermined zone, and means for rendering said first namedvalve moving means inoperative in the absence of a container beneathsaid filling spout.

2. In a filling machine for containers, a filling spout movable in apath of travel, said filling spout having a filling passageway and abypass passageway, means for supplying a metered increment of fillingmaterial to said filling spout during the travel of said filling spoutthrough a predetermined filling zone in its path of travel, a valve insaid filling spout movable from a bypass position to a filling position,cams means for moving said valve from one position to the other, a firstcam actuating means for moving said valve from the bypass to the fillingposition as said spout enters said filling zone, a second cam actuatingmeans for returning said valve to the bypass position as said spoutleaves said filling zone, and means for rendering said first camactuating means inoperative in the absence of a container beneath saidfilling spout.

3. The device claimed in claim 2 wherein the means for rendering saidfirst cam actuating means inoperative includes sensing means fordetecting the absence of a container beneath said filling spout.

4. The device claimed in claim 3 wherein said first cam actuating meansis moveable from an operative to an inoperative position, wherein asolenoid is provided to move the first cam actuating means from theoperative to the inoperative position, and wherein the movement of thesolenoid is controlled by said sensing means.

5. The device claimed in claim 4 wherein said sensing means comprises aphoto electric cell arranged to be energized when no container ispresent beneath the filling spout.

6. In a rotary filling machine, a rotating head, filling spouts mountedon said head and movable therewith, container moving means for movingcontainers to be filled in synchronism with said rotary head, means forsupplying filling material through said rotary head to said fillingspouts during movement of said filling spouts through a predeterminedfilling zone, said filling spouts each having a filling passageway and abypass passageway, valves in said filling spouts movable from a bypassposition to a filling position, means for moving said valves from thebypass to the filling positon in synchronism with the movement of eachvalve into said filling zone, means for moving each valve from thefilling to the bypass position in synchronism with the movement of eachspout out of said filling zone, and means for rendering said first namedvalve moving means inoperative in the absence of a container beneath afilling spout, whereby the filling material supplied to the fillingspouts during their passage through said filling zone will be divertedthrough said bypass passageways in the absence of a containertherebeneath, and means connected to said bypass passageways forreturning diverted filling material to said rotating head.

7. The device claimed in claim 6 wherein movement of each valve from oneposition to the other is controlled by a cam, wherein the means formoving said valves from the bypass to the filling position comprises astop normallypositioned to be contacted by said cams, said stop beingmovable from an operative to an inoperative position, and means formoving said stop to the inoperative position in the absence of acontainer beneath a filling spout.

8. The device claimed in claim 7 wherein the means for moving the stopto the inoperative position includes sensing means for detecting theabsence of a container beneath the filling spout.

9. In a filling machine for containers, means for moving containersthrough a path of travel, a rotating head having filling spouts, meansto move said head so as to cause said filling spouts to travel with thecontainers, a fixed head cooperating with the rotating head, means tosupply filling material to said fixed head, cooperating ports in saidfixed head and said rotating head to supply filling material to saidspouts during a predetermined portion of their paths of travel, saidfilling spouts each having a filling passageway and a bypass passageway,valves in said filling spouts movable from a bypass position to afilling position, means for moving said valves from the bypass to thefilling position in synchronism with the opening of said ports, meansfor moving said valves from the filling to the bypass position insynchronism with the closing of said ports, and means for rendering saidfirst named valve moving means inoperative when containers are notpresent beneath the filling spouts, whereby the filling materialsupplied to the spouts through said cooperating ports will be divertedthrough said bypass passageways, and means connected to said bypasspassage- E/ay; for returning the filling material to said rotating 10.The device claimed in claim 9 wherein the means for returning thefilling material from the bypass passageways to the rotating headincludes cooperating ports in the rotating head and the fixed head,whereby the bypassed filling material may be returned from the fixedhead to the source of supply.

11. The device claimed in claim 10 wherein the valves in said spouts areadapted to be moved from one position to the other by means of operatingcams moving with said filling spouts, and wherein the means for movingsaid valves from the bypass to the filling position comprises a stoppositioned to be normally contacted by said operating cams, said stopbeing movable to an inoperative position.

12. The device claimed in claim 11 including sensing means for movingsaid stop to the inoperative position when no containers are presentbeneath said fill-ing spouts.

13. The device claimed in claim 12 wherein said sensing means includesmeans for activating a solenoid, said solenoid being operativelyconnected to said step and efiective to move said stop from theoperative to the inoperative position.

14. In a filling machine for containers, a stationary plate having afilling port therein, pumping means for supplying filling material tosaid filling port, a rotating plate cooperating with said fixed plate,filling spouts carried by said rotating plate, inlet ports in saidrotating plate for communication with the filling port to provide ametered fiow of filling material to each filling spout seriatum, each ofsaid filling spouts having a filling passageway and a bypass passageway,valve means in said filling spouts movable from a bypass to a fillingposition, means for moving said valves from the bypass to the fillingposition as the inlet ports come into communication with the fillingport, means for moving containers to be filled beneath said fillingspouts, and means for rendering said valve moving means inoperative whenno container is present beneath a filling spout, whereby the valve willremain in the bypass position when the ports are in communication andthe filling material intrqduced therein will be bypassed through saidbypass pa ageway. The device claimed in claim 14 wherein the by,- passpassageways of said filling spouts are connected to secondary port insaid rotating head, said secondary ports cooperating with a bypass portin said fixed head to deliver the bypassed filling material to a bypassconduit.

16. The device claimed in claim 15 wherein said valve moving meanscomprises a stop adapted to be contacted by a valve moving cam carriedby each of said filling spouts, wherein said stop is movable from anoperative to an inoperative position, and wherein the means forrendering the valve moving means inoperative inciudes sensing means fordetecting the absence of containers beneath the filling spouts.

17. The device claimed in claim 16 wherein said sensing means comprisesa photo-electric cell adapted to be energized when no container ispresent beneath the filling spout.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,553,250 Gross May 15, 1951 2,665,044 Monroe et a1. Jan. 5, 19542,674,397 Plusquellic Apr. 6, 1954

